The Supreme Court of Pakistan has raised concerns concerning delays in the finalization of a legal assistance agreement (MLA) with Kenya, a key step in the investigation into the murder of Arshad Sharif.
A constitutional bench of six members led by judge Aminuddin Khan heard the SUO Motu affair on Friday, Express News reported.
The additional prosecutor (AAG) informed the court that the agreement had been signed and would be sent for presidential approval in a month.
Judge Hassan Azhar Rizvi asked why the pact, signed on December 10, 2023, had not yet been ratified. Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail asked whether the court should require daily stage reports.
The bench also referred to the Pakistani extradition of the Daesh Sharifullah commander in the United States, wondering how it took place despite the absence of a prisoner exchange treaty.
“A journalist was brutally murdered, but the Pakistani government did not support his family in Kenya,” said Judge Rizvi.
The joint secretary of the Interior Ministry said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had been informed of the agreement on February 27, which prompted other questions to the bench on the reasons why it took two months after the last hearing to act.
The widow of Arshad Sharif, Siddic Javeria, informed the court that the High Court of Kenya had ordered an action against the police officers involved in the murder, but the Kenyan government had appealed.
She noted that Pakistan had neither intervened nor offered support.
Judge Mandokhail asked: “If a woman fights the only case in Kenya, why is the government reluctant to help him?”
The AAG argued that Pakistan was not granted access to the crime scene, which was essential to the investigation. He stressed that Pakistan could only become a party to the case once the MLA agreement has been fully implemented.
J. Muhammad Ali Mazhar observed that the Suo Motu affair had remained pending for years. Arshad Sharif’s lawyer asked for a copy of the information report, which, according to AAG, had already been disclosed to the media.
The Supreme Court postponed the hearing for a month, requesting an update on approval of the agreement.
Journalist Arshad Sharif had entered self-imposed exile and moved to Kenya following a series of business against him in Pakistan.
His murder in October 2022 sparked a legal battle in Kenya, leading to a court decision that the police acted illegally in his death.
The case, initiated by the widow of Sharif, a siddic javeria, alongside groups of Kenyan journalists, accused the police and the legal officials of arbitrarily and illegally Sharif and not to conduct an appropriate investigation.
Sharif, an eminent journalist, was killed in the head when the Kenyan police opened fire on his vehicle, saying that it was a case of erroneous identity. His death attracted international conviction and a meticulous examination of extrajudicial murders by Kenyan security forces.
The question of the excessive force of the police and illegal murders in Kenya was a long -standing concern for human rights groups.